Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold announced it will pay $126.46 per share in cash and stock to purchase Phelps Dodge, creating the world’s largest publicly-traded copper company.

From Reuters:

“This kind of big merger could raise the company’s ability to take advantage in price negotiations, therefore this should be positive for copper prices,” said Naohiro Niimura, director at Barclays Capital Japan.

“In the current bearish trend, the market is not too sensitive about buying copper actively, but in the medium- and long-term it should be positive.”

Phelps Dodge has mines in North America, South America and Africa, while Freeport-McMoRan operates the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, said in terms of reserves to be the world’s largest copper and gold mine.

Posted: 11/21/2006 10:33:36 AM

The price of crude may rise next week, as higher U.S. consumption as winter approaches reduces stockpiles.

From Bloomberg:

Twenty-one of 43 analysts, traders and brokers, or 49 percent, said prices will increase, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Five expect a decline and 17 forecast little change.

World oil demand peaks in the fourth quarter as refineries increase production of heating fuel. Implied demand for distillate fuel, or diesel and heating oil, averaged 4.4 million barrels a day over the four weeks to Nov. 3, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier, the Energy Department said this week.

The reductions agreed on by OPEC started November 1st, reducing oil output by 1.2 million barrels a day. The group is scheduled to meet again on December 14th.

Posted: 11/10/2006 5:28:37 AM

The American Stock Exchange (Amex) today listed the common stock of Metalline Mining Company under the ticker symbol MMG.

Metalline Mining Company is an exploration stage enterprise formed to engage in the business of mining. The Company’s corporate office is located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and has purchased concessions located at Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico and operates in Mexico through its wholly owned Mexican subsidiary, Minera Metalin S.A. de C.V.

“We are very pleased to welcome Metalline Mining Company to the American Stock Exchange,” said John McGonegal, Senior Vice President of the Amex Equities Group. “Metalline Mining is the latest company to recognize our expanding presence in this growing sector and we expect the Company will benefit from our many value-added services that a developing company needs to succeed in today’s competitive market.”

“Metalline has achieved a very important milestone by gaining approval for trading on Amex, which provides our shareholders with a more liquid and efficient trading market, and to be one of the few zinc mining and exploration companies to be trading on Amex,” said Merlin D. Bingham, the Company’s President.

Posted: 11/7/2006 7:18:01 AM

President Bush appointed Richard Stickler as head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration in spite of opposition from the United Mine Workers of America and Senate Democrats. Congress is currently in recess, which means the appointment does not require Senate approval.
According to the Associated Press,

The lawmakers and the UMW said Stickler spent too many years as a mining executive and failed to demonstrate adequate concern for safety problems in the mining industry. In addition to working in the mining industry, Stickler headed Pennsylvania’s mine safety office from 1997-2003.

“I think my track record in Pennsylvania proves that I did not go easy on mine operators,” Stickler said in a conference call to reporters.

The agency has been without a head for two years and the new appointment is expected to last until the end of the next session of Congress.

Posted: 10/23/2006 8:17:37 AM

A group of companies led by Chevron has tapped a vast pool of oil beneath the Gulf of Mexico which could boost the country’s reserves considerably. Some experts believe the boost could be up to 50 percent.

According to this AP article:

A test well indicates it could be the biggest new domestic oil discovery since Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay a generation ago. But the vast oil deposit roughly four miles beneath the ocean floor won’t significantly reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil and it won’t help lower prices at the pump anytime soon, analysts said.

Chevron estimated the 300-square-mile pool contains between 3 billion and 15 billion barrels of oil and natural gas liquids. The United States consume nearly 6 billion barrels of crude oil each year.

Posted: 9/7/2006 7:15:32 AM

Overtaking the previously undisputed leader, Saudi Arabia, the Russians pumped 9.236 million barrels of oil in June, 2006, about 46,000 more barrels than the Saudis.

According to MosNews.com,

OPEC statistics show that in the period since 2002 Russian companies have surpassed the Saudis as the world's biggest oil producers on an on-and-off basis. The latest figures, however, have been hailed in Russia as evidence that such periodic production spikes are no one-offs and that Moscow really does have a right to lay claim to the number one spot.

But many are worried that Russia is becoming addicted to the “oil needle”, with oil and gas revenues now accounting for over 52 percent of all revenues to the state treasury.

Posted: 8/24/2006 8:23:25 AM

According to an annual review released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the mining industry has another spectacular year in store.  But there are some serious challenges ahead.  According to this article, the challenges include:

• Lack of equipment availability, people issues, administrative "red tape" and cost pressures (especially energy costs) are becoming issues;
• Existing operations have been running at, or near, full capacity and the sustainability of production is questioned and starting to be seen in recent production reports;
• Companies are increasingly focused on labour relation matters to ensure sustained production, contractors are pricing their services more aggressively and governments are unable to resist looking at royalties, taxes and the level of foreign ownership, and;
• Access to prospective land is increasingly difficult. Local communities are highlighting their needs for social dividends and new entrants are capturing available ground.

The overall view is that the industry is in very good shape and dealing with these challenges now will allow the industry to continue to prosper for many years to come.

Posted: 6/8/2006 6:12:07 AM

According to their website, President Bush will nominate John Correll as the director of the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation (OSM).

Acting Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett today praised President Bush’s intention to nominate John R. Correll as director of the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation. The announcement is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate, once the official nomination is made by the President.

With more than 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors, Correll has served since 2002 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Posted: 5/18/2006 9:39:48 AM

“‘A sustained worldwide demand for minerals and metals for at least the next few years is translating into robust business for mining companies and metals producers’, a mining executive said.” More details here.

Posted: 4/14/2006 7:20:21 AM